Health club operator énergie Group has secured £400,000 worth of funding from the Government's UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to invest in its national training programme.

The grant was made out from the Employer Ownership of Skills scheme - a competitive fund open to employers to invest in their current and future workforce in England.

énergie will look to use the grant towards raising skill sets and the creation of new jobs and apprenticeships - as well as help drive enterprise and the group's economic growth.

Karrin Simpson, training manager at the énergie Group's National Training Centre in Milton Keynes will lead the project and manage the completion of all milestones and targets set.

She said: "The funding will enable us to give franchisees and their staff an even greater structure of training as well as develop our own internal team.

"We'll create a sustainable model using both internal and external resources to empower our training leaders to ensure longevity for the group."

Part of the new training methods will include digital podcasts that can easily be passed on through multimedia channels.

Jan Spaticchia, énergie's CEO said: "The potential to give our team of franchisees even greater knowledge in their fields that can be passed to their employees is extremely exciting and will further demonstrate our commitment to investing in the people that have chosen to invest in the énergie brand."